In the previous article, we explored how some of the world’s wealthiest people direct their assets toward social causes. What about Japan? Museums, scholarships, school construction overseas and animal welfare all lead us to public-interest foundations associated with business founders and public figures.

Around ten years ago, I discussed Japanese foundations in Tax Planning Using Public Interest Corporations. Here, we revisit official materials to see how assets, experience and creative works are connected with ongoing activities.

Even among the wealthiest, relationships with foundations differ

The top ten in Forbes JAPAN’s 2026 rich list provide another starting point. Some people establish foundations personally; others are connected through family or business. This ranking was published in June 2026 using stock prices and exchange rates as of May 22, rather than representing today’s ranking.

All foundations confirmed in this table are public-interest incorporated foundations.

“Not confirmed” means that the reviewed public materials did not establish that connection. It does not mean that no foundation exists or that the person makes no donations. Personally founded, corporate-funded and inherited institutional relationships are not treated as identical.

For example, official materials name the company as the founder of the Keyence Foundation, while Toemon Takenaka, rather than Toichi Takenaka, founded the Takenaka Scholarship Foundation. Being an officer does not establish that a person contributed the founding assets. These distinctions reveal more than the simple assumption that every wealthy person creates a personal foundation.

Masayoshi Son and Tadashi Yanai: investing in future generations

The Masason Foundation was established as a general incorporated foundation in 2016 and became a public-interest incorporated foundation on March 1, 2018. Its legal status has therefore changed since establishment.

A foundation can be established as a general incorporated foundation and then seek public-interest recognition after satisfying the applicable activity and governance requirements. It may also continue operating as a general incorporated foundation. Reading only an announcement from the establishment date can therefore give an outdated picture.

Also, the Yanai Tadashi Foundation provides scholarships, including support for young people pursuing university studies overseas. This connects wealth created through business with opportunities to learn and develop. It represents another form of succession: nurturing future contributors to society, alongside passing a company to its next management team.

Hiroshi Mikitani: participation need not mean establishing a new foundation

Outside the top ten, we also looked at Hiroshi Mikitani. Although we did not confirm a new foundation personally established by him, Rakuten’s official biography records his appointment as chairman of the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra, a public-interest incorporated foundation, in October 2011. Supporting an established arts organization as an officer differs from creating a new personal foundation.

A person can contribute managerial experience, networks or funds to an existing organization without establishing a foundation bearing their own name. Simply counting foundations does not capture the different ways people participate in philanthropy.

Who established each foundation, and what does it sustain?

A foundation established during a person’s lifetime differs from one funded by a company or one preserving someone’s work and legacy after death. A foundation also does not have shareholders in the way a company does; it should not be treated as a company owned by its founder.

The table omits the legal prefix “Public Interest Incorporated Foundation.” The following sections distinguish confirmed activities from their establishment histories. They do not establish the individuals’ private succession plans or actual tax treatment.

Yusaku Maezawa: connecting contemporary art with the next generation

Contemporary Art Foundation was established on November 6, 2012. Its published materials identify Yusaku Maezawa as its founder, and its official website describes exhibitions, awards and grants to promote contemporary art.

The interesting shift is from collecting art privately to enabling more people to encounter it and helping emerging artists work. A foundation can turn a personal passion into something shared with society.

The materials reviewed here do not establish that the foundation owns the entire private collection or that a will provides for all works to be donated. Private ownership and foundation activities need to be considered separately.

Miki Watanabe: three foundations addressing different needs

Foundations associated with Watami founder Miki Watanabe include Minna no Yume wo Kanaeru Kai and School Aid Japan and Save Earth Foundation. Their respective fields include social entrepreneurship, children’s education, resource recycling and forest restoration.

School Aid Japan explains that a public-interest foundation took over the activities of an NPO that began in 2001, in 2009. Its published articles of incorporation identify Watanabe as the founder and specify an initial cash contribution of ¥3 million. This does not mean that ¥3 million funds all its ongoing work; it illustrates the distinction between establishing an organization and sustaining its activities.

Save Earth Foundation’s history, meanwhile, dates its predecessor to 1965 and Watanabe’s appointment as chair to 2013. It would therefore be inaccurate to say that he established all three from scratch. Taking responsibility for an existing foundation and developing its activities is another route.

Suntory: different foundations for the arts and academic research

For Suntory, distinguishing the names helps. The museum and music activities are associated with the Suntory Foundation for the Arts. Its official founding statement describes how Keizo Saji developed cultural activities, building on founder Shinjiro Torii’s commitment to society.

The Suntory Museum of Art opened in 1961, and artistic activities were brought together in the Suntory Foundation for the Arts in 2009. The separate Suntory Foundation, established in 1979, supports humanities and social sciences, the Suntory Prize for Social Sciences and Humanities, and regional culture.

This is not simply a story about one founder’s personal estate. A company can provide resources and an organizational base for culture, while successive managers and specialists carry the work forward. Relationships between companies and foundations can also sustain activities beyond an individual lifetime.

Taro Okamoto: preserving a creative spirit as well as works

The Taro Okamoto Memorial Foundation for the Promotion of Contemporary Art continues activities associated with Taro Okamoto. According to the museum’s official explanation, his studio in Minami-Aoyama opened as a memorial museum on May 7, 1998, two years after his death, driven by Toshiko Okamoto’s commitment.

Also, Taro Okamoto Award for Contemporary Art recognizes artists pursuing new forms of expression. It connects preservation with opportunities for new creators. Continuing after someone’s death can mean more than keeping a building or name: the values that person held can encourage others.

Aya Sugimoto: turning commitment to animal welfare into sustained work

Eva Animal Environment and Welfare Association Public Interest Incorporated Foundation explains that Aya Sugimoto established a general incorporated foundation in February 2014, which received public-interest recognition in February 2015. Its work includes education, lectures and advocacy on animal welfare legislation and systems.

This example shows that public-interest foundations are not reserved for listed-company founders or people holding shares in their own businesses. They can also organize sustained efforts by specialists and supporters around a social issue someone wants to change.

Kakuei Tanaka: a foundation preserving a public figure’s legacy

The Tanaka Kakuei Memorial Museum is identified as a public-interest incorporated foundation in the government’s corporate information service But I can check. Kashiwazaki Tourism Association’s facility guide describes exhibits of his writings and personal belongings that convey his life and legacy.

Bearing a person’s name is not the same as having been established by that person during their lifetime. We have not verified his personal role in establishing it or the history of particular share donations, so we do not make those claims here. A foundation can also maintain a place where later generations learn about a public figure.

Osamu Shigematsu and Takeshi Iizuka: nurturing culture and talent

United Arrows founder Osamu Shigematsu chairs Japan Fashion and Lifestyle Foundation, which supports fashion culture and emerging talent. This extends beyond selling clothing to sustaining the culture and people on which the field depends.

As a tax accountant, I am particularly familiar with Takeshi Iizuka Scholarship Foundation, associated with TKC founder Takeshi Iizuka. Its official overview describes an endowment including cash and TKC shares donated by Iizuka and his wife, supporting financial assistance for students and international students.

This is a useful example because the donation of company shares is publicly documented. Shares in a business can become foundation assets supporting education. Corporate ownership and public-benefit work can be connected through careful design. We do not infer current shareholding percentages or individual tax treatment from historical figures.

Designing public benefit and asset succession together

These examples do not all have the same funding structure. They involve personal donations, corporate contributions, works and facilities, and donations from outside supporters. What they share is an organizational framework for bringing individual commitments and experience to society over time.

Donations and asset succession involving public-interest foundations may qualify for tax benefits under specified conditions. That does not establish that every person discussed here acted to reduce taxes. The existence of a tax incentive and an individual’s motive are separate questions.

Donating shares in one’s own company may allow dividends to fund ongoing public-benefit work. Shareholding restrictions and the tax treatment of the donation still require examination, and assets transferred to a foundation are no longer freely available to the family. Describing it merely as a way to eliminate inheritance tax misses the essential point.

A founder may want a business, a collection, or the education and culture that shaped their life to benefit the next generation. Combining that intention with assets and a governance structure is what makes foundations compelling: the question becomes not only how much wealth to leave, but what work that wealth should do.

For international examples, see Why Do the World’s Wealthiest People Establish Foundations?. For required personnel, initial assets, public-interest recognition, donations and ongoing administration in Japan, see Public Interest Foundation Formation and Operational Support Please see

This article addresses the rules and publicly available information as of October 11, 2026. Links to foundation, corporate and public-sector sources are included above. It does not verify undisclosed assets, donation agreements, succession arrangements or individual tax treatment.